Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by people who see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an “out-of-hospital” setting (such as at home, at work or in a park). It consists of two easy steps: Call 9-1-1 (or send someone to do that) and push hard and fast in the center of the chest.
On January 14, 2013, the Medical Academy students at Boca Raton Community High, who have been trained as “Hands-Only CPR” trainers by Palm Beach State College Paramedic students, began to teach their peers this skill in PE classes and clubs.
“The goal of this initiative is to increase the chances of saving lives throughout the community. We hope to teach “Hands-Only CPR” to more than 1,000 students,” said Laura Dundov, the Medical Academy Coordinator at Boca High.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is holding its state wide “Hands-Only CPR” initiative on January 16th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on the steps of the capitol to bring awareness of the need for “Hands-Only CPR” to become a requirement for graduation. It only takes thirty minutes to teach and can save countless lives as chest compressions will circulate oxygen and buy time for EMS to arrive and take over.
Schools across the state will also be teaching “Hands-Only CPR” during that time period.
Other CPR training taking place on the Treasure Coast as presented in a recent article in St. Lucie County’s “Lucie Links” Newsletter (see below), illustrates the vitality of the medical academy at Fort Pierce Central to provide useful and up-to-date information for students to embrace and be challenged.
Fort Pierce Central medical academy students master CPR
“ As Fort Pierce Central Medical Academy students lean over their own mannequins on the floor of the school’s medical lab, the song “Stayin Alive” by the Bee Gees starts pumping, which seems appropriate since that’s the goal of the Health Science class, to keep someone alive using CPR training. Medical Academy instructor Samantha Jackson uses the music to inspire the students to make the appropriate number of compressions — 100/minute — for success. Students in Jackson’s class will earn their American Heart Association certification in first aid, CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) will be able to take this certification to add to any resume, regardless of field. In a class that is full of opportunity to goof around and ignore the teaching, all of the students stayed very attentive, constantly asking questions. When the trainers brought out the practice AEDs the students got especially quiet, grasping the gravity of shocking someone’s heart to resuscitate them.”
The American Heart Association works with some of the world’s leading CPR scientists and medical professionals. Their continuous review of published research studies on CPR resulted in the following American Heart Association Science Advisory, published in April 2008 in the medical journal Circulation: “Hands-Only™ (Compression-Only) Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Call to Action for Bystander Response to Adults Who Experience Out-of-Hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest.”
REF: PBCSD (Press Release) Public Affairs Office. January 2013.
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